Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices 36931

1Unless otherwise specified, all sections cited

herein are in the Federal Housing Enterprises

Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992.

Sections 1331–1336 of that Act are codified at 12

U.S.C. 4561–66.

refer to the proposal by name and/or

OMB approval number and should be

sent to: Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., OMB Desk

Officer, Office of Management and

Budget, Room 10235, New Executive

Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wayne Eddins, Reports Management

Officer, Department of Housing and

Urban Development, 451 7th Street,

Southwest, Washington, DC 20410,

telephone (202) 708–1305. This is not a

toll-free number. Copies of the proposed

forms and other available documents

submitted to OMB may be obtained

from Mr. Eddins.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department has submitted the proposal

for the collection of information, as

described below, to OMB for review, as

required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

The Notice lists the following

information: (1) the title of the

information collection proposal; (2) the

office of the agency to collect the

information; (3) the OMB approval

number, if applicable; (4) the

description of the need for the

information and its proposed use; (5)

the agency form number, if applicable;

(6) what members of the public will be

affected by the proposal; (7) how

frequently information submissions will

be required; (8) an estimate of the total

number of hours needed to prepare the

information submission including

number of respondents, frequency of

response, and hours of response; (9)

whether the proposal is new, an

extension, reinstatement, or revision of

an information collection requirement;

and (10) the names and telephone

numbers of an agency official familiar

with the proposal and of the OMB Desk

Officer for the Department.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 35, as

amended.

Dated: June 30, 1998.

David S. Cristy,

Director, IRM Policy and Management

Division.

Notice of Submission of Proposed

Information Collection to OMB

Title of Proposal: Technical

Suitability of Product Program, Section

521 of the National Housing Act.

Office: Housing.

OMB Approval Number: 2502–0313.

Description of the Need for the

Information and Its Proposed Use: This

information is needed under HUD’s

Technical Suitability of Products

Program to determine the acceptance of

materials and products to be used in

structures approved for mortgages

insured under the National Housing

Act. The respondents are the product

manufacturers seeking acceptance.

Form Number: HUD Handbook

4950.1.

Respondents: Businesses or Other

For-Profit.

Frequency of Submission: On

Occasion.

Reporting Burden:

Number of

respondents x Frequency ofresponse x Hours perresponse = Burden hours

Information Collection ................................................................ 50 1 41 2,050

Recordkeeping ........................................................................... 50 1 3 150

Total Estimated Burden Hours: 2,200.

Status: Reinstatement without

Changes.

Contact: Marion Connell, HUD, (202)

708–6409, Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., OMB,

(202) 395–7316.

Dated: June 30, 1998.

[FR Doc. 98–18050 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4373–N–01]

Utility Allowances for Use by the

Federal National Mortgage Association

and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage

Corporation

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of Utility Allowances.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that

the Department has established utility

allowances in accordance with the

Secretary’s authority to regulate the

Federal National Mortgage Association

(‘‘Fannie Mae’’) and the Federal Home

Loan Mortgage Corporation (‘‘Freddie

Mac’’). (Each enterprise is also referred

to as a ‘‘Government Sponsored

Enterprise’’ or ‘‘GSE’’). These

allowances are used to determine

whether rental units financed by GSE

mortgage purchases are affordable and

may count toward the achievement of

the income-based housing goals

established by the Secretary. For these

purposes, the allowances in this notice

shall be added to the contract rent for

rental units in which: (1) tenant income

is not available; (2) contract rent does

not include the cost of utilities; and (3)

the GSE does not use the HUD Section

8 utility allowances.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Janet Tasker, Director, Office of

Government-Sponsored Enterprises

Oversight, Department of Housing and

Urban Development, Room 6154, 451

Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC

20410, telephone (202) 708–2224. (This

is not a toll-free number). For hearingand speech-impaired persons, this

number may be accessed via TTY (text

telephone) by calling the Federal

Information Relay Service at 1–800–

877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Environmental Impact

In accordance with 40 CFR 1508.4 of

the regulations of the Council on

Environmental Quality and 24 CFR

50.20 (1) of the HUD regulation, the

policies and procedures contained in

this notice relate only to cost

determinations that do not affect the

physical condition of any building and,

therefore, are categorically excluded

from the requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act.

Background

The Federal Housing Enterprises

Financial Safety and Soundness Act of

1992, enacted as Title XIII of the

Housing and Community Development

Act of 1992 (Pub. L.102–550, approved

October 28, 1992, codified generally at

12 U.S.C. 4501–4561) (‘‘the Act’’) 1

requires the Secretary, inter alia, to

establish and monitor the performance

of the GSEs in meeting annual goals for

mortgage purchases on housing for lowand moderate-income families and
36932 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices

2Sections 1332(c) and 1333(c).

3Sections 1332(c)(2) and 1333(c)(2).

4 24 CFR 81.2.

5 Id.

6 Id.

7The AHS means have been adjusted to reflect

the 5.7 percent increase in the Consumer Price

Index for Fuel and Other Utilities (CPIFOU)

between the fourth quarter of 1995 (the approximate

midpoint of August 1995–February 1996, the period

when the 1995 AHS was conducted) and the fourth

quarter of 1997 and the projected 0.3 percent

decrease in the CPIFOU between the fourth quarter

of 1997 and the fourth quarter of 1998, as projected

by Data Resources, Inc.

special affordable housing, i.e., housing

meeting the needs of, and affordable to,

low-income families in low-income

areas and very low-income families. On

January 2, 1996, the Secretary’s

regulation on the GSEs, codified at 24

CFR, part 81, became effective. (See 60

FR 61846, Dec. 1, 1995).

Under the Act and regulations, in

considering whether a rental dwelling

unit that is financed by a GSE mortgage

purchase is affordable and counts

toward any housing goal, the Secretary

must consider the income of tenants if

income information is available. Where

income information is not available,

rent on the dwelling unit is used as a

proxy and compared to the rent levels

affordable to very low-, low-, and

moderate-income families and families

whose incomes do not exceed 50

percent of the area median income

(‘‘especially low-income families’’).2 To

be considered affordable and count

under the goal, the rent cannot exceed

30 percent of the maximum income

level of the family’s classification, with

adjustments for unit size.3

Under the regulation, ‘‘rent’’ is

defined as contract rent, but only where

the contract rent includes the cost of all

utilities.4 In all other instances, rent is

contract rent plus (1) the actual cost of

utilities or (2) a utility allowance.5 The

regulation allows the GSEs to choose

from two different utility allowances—

the allowances used in the HUD Section

8 Program or the utility allowances

derived from the American Housing

Survey (AHS) and issued annually by

the Secretary.6

On May 1, 1996, a notice was issued

establishing the utility allowances for

1996 and 1997 (61 FR 19466). Those

utility allowances were based on the

Department’s analysis of data from the

1993 AHS.

This notice announces the AHSderived utility allowances for 1998 and

1999. In establishing these allowances,

the Department analyzed 1995 AHS data

on the mean costs, based on unit type

(i.e., number of bedrooms), paid by

renters in both multifamily and singlefamily properties for electricity, gas, oil,

water, and other utilities.7

The GSEs were advised by letter dated

May 12, 1998, that these allowances

would be published in the Federal

Register and that they would become

effective on July 1, 1998, but could be

implemented sooner at the GSEs’

option.

The Utility Allowances

In accordance with sections 1321,

1331–33, and 1336 of the Federal

Housing Enterprises Financial Safety

and Soundness Act (12 U.S.C. 4541,

4561–63, and 4566), and as provided in

paragraph (1) under the definition of

‘‘utility allowance’’ in section 81.2(b) of

Title 24 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, the AHS-derived utility

allowances for 1998 and 1999 are as

follows:

Type of property

Number of bedrooms in dwelling unit

Efficiency 1 2 3 or more

Multifamily ........................................................................................................................ $51 $61 $79 $105

Single family ..................................................................................................................... 61 81 111 145

These utility allowances are

applicable to the GSEs’ determination of

eligibility of rental units to count

toward their annual housing goals and

not to other programs or regulatory

functions of the Department of Housing

and Urban Development.

Effect of Notice Beyond 1999

For 2000 and thereafter, the Secretary

shall establish AHS-derived utility

allowances by subsequent notice.

Pending establishment of such

allowances for 2000 and thereafter, the

allowances in this notice shall continue

to be used by the GSEs.

Dated: July 1, 1998.

Andrew Cuomo,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–18094 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–27–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Receipt of Applications for

Permit

The following applicants have

applied for a permit to conduct certain

activities with endangered species. This

notice is provided pursuant to Section

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et

seq.):

PRT–844265

Applicant: Zoological Society of San Diego,

San Diego, CA.

The applicant requests a permit to

export four captive-hatched Andean

condors (Vultur gyphus) to Columbia to

enhance the survival of the species

through reintroduction into the wild.

PRT–843149

Applicant: International Snow Leopard

Trust, Seattle, WA.

The applicant requests a permit to

import and re-export non-invasively

collected biological samples from

endangered and threatened mammals in

Asia, for the purpose of scientific

research.

PRT–843877

Applicant: White Oak Conservation Center,

Yulee, FL.

The applicant requests a permit to

import six captive-held visayan deer

(Cervus alfredi) from the Phillippines to

enhance the survival of the species

through captive breeding.

Written data or comments should be

submitted to the Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Office of Management

Authority, 4401 North Fairfax Drive,

Room 700, Arlington, Virginia 22203

and must be received by the Director

within 30 days of the date of this

publication.

Documents and other information

submitted with these applications are

available for review, subject to the

requirements of the Privacy Act and

Freedom of Information Act, by any

party who submits a written request for

a copy of such documents to the

following office within 30 days of the

date of publication of this notice: U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of

Management Authority, 4401 North